nasty black cab driver, dare I say it, again

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LOGAN 5

New Member
*****ing hell. What is it with them? One almost had me this morning in a bus lane when he swooped past with just inches to spare just as I was going past another cyclist. That was the closest I've come to falling off for a very long time. Caught up with him in his traffic jam and politely explained what he did but his predictable response was that I was in the middle of the lane and everything I said just went through the empty space between his ears. He then wound up the window and drove off. He passed me twice more after that really closely just for extra punishment and to prove was an ignorant moron he is.

I really hate London black cab drivers. They are complete scum in my view. They're the worst drivers in London. Arrgghhh. Going for a coffee now to calm down.
 

Molecule Man

Well-Known Member
Location
London
Bad luck, one of my recent incidents was similar with a taxi passing too close while I was overtaking another cyclist. The driver's response was to say it was my fault for being in the middle of the lane. I said I was overtaking another cylist. His response was that I wasn't allowed to do that! That's when I lost it, swore (relatively mildly), and he claimed victory in the debate as a result, despite talking complete nonsense.
Was he winding me up, or are there really drivers out there who think it's against the law for cyclists to overtake each other?
 

mikeitup

Veteran
Location
Walsall
Molecule Man said:
Was he winding me up, or are there really drivers out there who think it's against the law for cyclists to overtake each other?

Yes, there are.
I overtook a guy on a halfords building site special (at least he was on the road) last week and had a very close overtake from a motorist.

I was out on a sunday club ride a few weeks ago. At the front two guys were riding two abreast and a c**k in a 4x4 overtook pipping his horn shouting through the window "SINGLE FILE!!!!"
 

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
do you signal to pass another cycle?

one bad cabbie doesn't make them all bad, I find professional drivers generally better than the amateur ones
 

dondare

Über Member
Location
London
I see far more good cabs than bad ones. As a general rule that really does hold true, the worst drivers in the whole of London drive UPS delivery vans.
 
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LOGAN 5

New Member
Tynan said:
do you signal to pass another cycle?

one bad cabbie doesn't make them all bad, I find professional drivers generally better than the amateur ones


I was already in the middle of the lane and therefore in position to overtake a cyclist on the nearside so it was unnecessary to move further out. He knew exactly what he was doing, it was very deliberate as in his view I was in the middle of the lane (primary to prevent maniacs like him from doing what he did, unfortunately he had enough room to straddle both lanes to get past very closely which he didn't have to do as there was ample room on the outside lane). It was a punishment overtake for me taking up the middle lane position and further emphasised by the two additional close overtakes after our "conversation".

Don't call black cab drivers professional in the sense you mean. Their level of consideration, courtesy and manners is appalling. Most if not all their manoeuvres are deliberate. They're on the road all day so have speed/distance/how close they can pass you/how close they can ride up your mudguard/how effectively to gun the engine behind blah blah blah all worked out so accurately unlike the amateur motorists to which you refer. In my view it makes them even more dangerous as they are taking very calculated risks - with my (and your) life.

UPS not as bad as cabs IMO. Cabs are up there in a league of their own.
 

domtyler

Über Member
I have more aggro from black cab drivers than any other type of vehicle. They seem to hate assertive cyclists that they can't just ignore and go out of their way to teach lessons to me without fail. Total self-gratification artists/shite merchants!
 

Cab

New Member
Location
Cambridge
domtyler said:
I have more aggro from black cab drivers than any other type of vehicle. They seem to hate assertive cyclists that they can't just ignore and go out of their way to teach lessons to me without fail. Total self-gratification artists/shite merchants!

Just black cabs? I find thats often a problem with taxis. It ain't all of them, but its far too large a proportion.
 

domtyler

Über Member
Cab said:
Just black cabs? I find thats often a problem with taxis. It ain't all of them, but its far too large a proportion.

It's because they are allowed to use the bus/cycle lanes in London. Fair enough you'd think, but they seem to think that this means they own them and cyclists can get out of the effing way or suffer the consequences.
 

PeteinLadywell

New Member
I have had problems with black cabs in the past. On one occassion one deliberately rammed my wife's bike (not very hard but it mildly buckled her wheel), he then did the same to me. So we reported him to the police.

Every time someone does something to you that could be an offense you should report them at the very least.
 

PBancroft

Senior Member
Location
Winchester
I'll change my handle to PeteinHampshire then.

I don't have any experience of black cab drivers on my commute, but a good friend of mine is training to be a black cab driver in London, and he reckons that the need to be courteous to all road users is really drilled into them.
 
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